Credit Card Skimmers Found At Several MA Grocery Stores

MASSACHUSETTS — Police are warning shoppers about credit card skimmers placed at Market Basket stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The devices are used to steal sensitive information from credit and debit cards.

Credit card skimmers have been found at Market Baskets in Haverhill, Somerville, and Reading in Massachusetts and Nashua and Concord in New Hampshire, according to Boston.com. Police believe the incidents may be connected.

In Concord, police found credit card skimmers at a Walmart on Oct.19 and a Market Basket on Oct. 27. Concord police said that the devices were installed by the same two people. Similar incidents are being investigated by law enforcement agencies throughout New England, police said.

The devices rip sensitive information from credit and debit cards and relay it to a third party.

“A telltale sign with these particular ‘skimmers’ is that the card chip reader slot is inoperable and appears ‘jammed,’ causing the customer to swipe the card so that the magnetic reader can steal the card information,” police said.

In Reading, a Market Basket Security and Loss Prevention representative contacted police Oct. 30 because a skimming device was found placed on a credit card machine at a register inside the store Oct. 26. The device was removed before any personal data could be stolen, according to police.

In that incident, a police review of surveillance video shows that one suspect distracted a clerk while the other suspect placed the skimming device on the credit card machine.

Concord police said that shoppers should not swipe their cards if a terminal's chip reader slot isn't working and should instead speak to a store associate, Boston.com reported.

See related: Concord Crimeline Seeks Tips About Accused Credit Card Skimmer

Credit Card Skimmer Placed At Reading Grocery Store: Police